Train Wheel Bearing Temperature Detection

ABSTRACT

A system ( 10 ) for sensing a condition of a rail vehicle undercarriage component (e.g.,  18 ) includes a sensor (e.g.,  12 ) comprising an array of infrared sensing elements ( 29 ). Each of the elements may be aimed at a different region of a target area (e.g.,  32 ) of a rail vehicle undercarriage component to generate respective scanning waveform signature data corresponding to each different region. The sensor may be oriented so that at least one of the elements receives unobstructed infrared emissions (e.g.,  33 ) from the undercarriage component of a rail vehicle passing the sensor. The system also includes a memory ( 42 ) for storing characteristic waveform signature data corresponding to known undercarriage components. In addition, the system includes a processor ( 40 ) for processing the scanning waveform signature data with respect to the characteristic waveform signature data stored in memory to identify a type of the rail vehicle undercarriage component being scanned and to extract information indicative of a health condition of the rail vehicle undercarriage component being identified.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The invention of the present application is a Divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/253,160 filed on Oct. 18, 2005, which in turnclaims benefit of the May 24, 2005 filing date of U.S. provisionalpatent application No. 60/684,063, the May 17, 2005 filing date of U.S.provisional patent application No. 60/681,858, and the Dec. 6, 2004filing date of U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/633,536.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to the field of rail transportation,and more particularly, to determining a condition of train undercarriagecomponents.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The safe and reliable operation of a railroad system is dependent uponthe integrity of the rolling mechanisms of the vehicles traveling overthe rails. For example, it is important to monitor a condition of trainwheel bearings to determine if a degree of wear on the bearing indicatesthat the bearings need to be inspected and repaired or replaced. Worn ordamaged bearings increase the rolling friction of the axle therebyincreasing the power required to pull the train. In addition, worn ordamaged bearings may cause excessive wear to the train axle and, in thecase of failure of the bearing, may even cause the axle to lock up,preventing rotation of the wheel, resulting in a potential fire hazarddue to the heat build up and potential sparking caused by friction ofthe locked wheel scraping along the rail.

Bearing temperatures may be directly monitored using rail car mountedtemperature sensors, such as thermocouples, disposed near the bearings.However, such techniques having proven to be unreliable and/orrelatively costly to operate and maintain. One way of indirectlymonitoring the a condition train wheel bearings is to sense atemperature of the wheel bearing indirectly through a bearing boxsurrounding the wheel bearing on a rail car of a train. For example,infrared radiation (IR) sensors have been mounted along a rail to detectIR energy emitted by an outer wheel bearing and indicative of atemperature of the wheel bearing, as the rail car passes the IR sensor.However, such a system may be limited to a certain rail car wheelconfiguration that allows an unimpeded sensing path from the sensor tothe bearing box, which may not be achievable for all rail car wheelconfigurations. Furthermore, inner wheel bearings used on some rail carsand locomotives have proven difficult to monitor due to sensing pathsbeing blocked by suspension components and the differences among innerwheel bearing arrangements. In addition, the presence of IR sources nearan inner bearing being monitored, such as gear boxes or suspensionsprings, and the effects of lateral movement of the axle bringing otherIR sources into a sensing path, such as during wheel hunting, may resultin erroneous IR readings for the bearing. Other IR sources which mayinterfere with a temperature measurement of a train wheel bearing mayinclude hot lubricant leakage, sun reflections, differential heating ondifferent sides of a train, sparks from skidding wheels, and brakehardware, such as brake disks. Accordingly, an improved system andmethod for sensing a temperature of train wheel bearings is desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional illustration of an exemplary train wheelbearing temperature detection system, a portion of the system beingembedded in a metal railroad tie, or sleeper.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary graph of temperature versus IR samplingpoints over time for an IR radiation profile received from a train wheelbearing by the detection system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates another exemplary graph of temperature versus IRsampling points over time for an IR radiation profile received from atrain wheel bearing by the detection system of FIG. 1 and shows anenergy peak.

FIG. 4 illustrates another exemplary graph of temperature versus IRsampling points over time for an IR radiation profile received from atrain wheel bearing by the detection system of FIG. 1 and shows IRenergy contributions received from components other than a train wheelbearing.

FIG. 5 illustrates a cross sectional view of the sleeper of FIG. 1 takenalong line 5-5 and shows a suspension for the system mounted within thesleeper.

FIG. 6 illustrates partial cross sectional view of the suspension ofFIG. 5 taken along line 6-6.

FIGS. 7-10 illustrate exemplary conditions of a train wheel and thecorresponding IR signal profiles that may be obtained from an embodimentof the train wheel bearing measurement system.

FIG. 11 is a schematic representation of an exemplary train wheelbearing temperature detection system.

FIG. 12 illustrates exemplary IR scanning paths for scanning an innerbearing between a traction motor and a carrier bracket of a locomotive.

FIG. 13A is a schematic diagram showing area coverage of exemplary IRscanning paths with in a detection window corresponding to a sensedbearing.

FIG. 13B shows an exemplary graph of a sensed temperature profilecorresponding to the area coverage of exemplary IR scanning paths ofFIG. 13A.

FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary IR scanning paths for scanning an innerraceway portion of an outer bearing.

FIG. 15 shows rail wheel components superimposed over an exemplary an IRradiation profile received from a train wheel bearing by the detectionsystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 16A shows an exemplary graph of a sensed temperature profileindicative of a wheel exhibiting a temperature below an alarm threshold.

FIG. 16B shows an exemplary graph of a sensed temperature profileindicative of a wheel exhibiting a temperature above an alarm threshold.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A train undercarriage component temperature detection system may be usedto obtain data, such as IR emission data, indicative of a temperature ofa sensed railcar wheel or wheel bearing as the vehicle rolls past asensing device of the system. The system may include a sensing devicesoriented to receive unobstructed IR emissions from rail carundercarriage components. In one aspect, a sensor may include an arrayof sensing elements sensing adjacent regions of a target area of acomponent, such as an inner bearing and an outer bearing of an axle,respectively. The data received from the sensing devices is thenprocessed to extract information indicative of a health of therespective sensed component. The data may be processed to recognize acharacteristic waveform profile corresponding to a known component typeand reduce spurious IR emissions received from IR sources in thevicinity of a sensed component. A suspension for the system mountedwithin a railroad tie, or sleeper, is also provided to reduce theeffects of shock and vibration that may be experienced by the system.Waveform analysis methods may be used on the data to identify a type ofcomponent and then, based on the type of component being scanned,identify conditions of the scanned component that may be indicative ofan abnormal health condition.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary train undercarriage componenttemperature detection system 10 for detecting wheel bearingtemperatures. FIG. 11 is schematic representation of such a system 10.One or more sensors, such as outer bearing sensor 12 and inner bearingsensor 14, may be placed in a position along a track 16 to obtain datafrom wheel bearings, such as an inner bearing 20 and an outer bearing18, of a train axle 22 as the axle passes the sensors 12, 14. Thesensors 12, 14 may be positioned in a rail bed of the track 16, such aswithin a cross tie or sleeper 24 adapted to contain the sensors 12, 14,and to receive IR emissions from the bearings 18, 20. In an aspect ofthe invention, each sensor 12, 14 may include a mirror 26 to redirect IRemissions into a receiver 28 of the sensor 12, 14 to allow the receiver28 to be oriented horizontally within the sleeper 24. The sensors 12, 14may be positioned along an axis 34 parallel to the train axle 22 toreceive IR emissions emitted from a bottom 32 of a bearing 18, 20 alonga path 30 perpendicular to the axle 22. The emissions may be redirectedby the mirror 26, for example, at a right angle with respect to the path30, into the receiver 28.

As shown in FIG. 11, wheel IR sensors 13 may be placed in a positionalong the track 16 to obtain IR emission data from the wheels 23, suchas inner faces 25 of the wheels 23, as the axle passes the sensors 13.In another aspect of the invention shown in FIG. 14, a portion of thetrain axle 22, such as an axle portion 111 near an inner bearing 20, maybe targeted by a sensor 113 to obtain IR emission data from the axleportion 111.

Returning to FIG. 1, each sensor 12, 14 may further include a pluralityof infrared sensing elements 29, such as IR radiation sensitive diodedetectors or an IR sensitive planar array having individually resolvablepixels, arranged, for example, vertically within the receiver 28 toreceive respective portions 33 of the IR emissions radiated byrespective bearings 18, 20. Accordingly, each infrared sensing element29 receives a respective portion of IR energy from a target area, suchas the bottom 32 or end 38 of the bearing 18, 20, spaced away fromportions of IR emissions received by other IR sensing elements 29 of thesensor. In an aspect of the invention, the sensors 12, 14 may includefive elements 29, such as Mercury/Cadmium/Tellurium (HgCdTe) elements,positioned in an array within the sensor 12, 14. Four elements may beused for scanning, and a fifth element 47 may be used for calibratingthe other elements 29. The calibrating element 47 may be positioned toview a reference Peltier effect semiconductor cooler 49 maintained at adesired temperature, such as −40 degrees Celsius, to provide aDC-coupled benchmark for sensed heat signatures. Such a design may allowan absolute temperature measurement accuracy of +/−0.1 degree Celsius.The sensors 12, 14 may transmit through a zinc-selenid lens and view therailcar through an external shutter mounted on the instrumented tie,with a front surface mirror 26 in the viewing path. The mirror 26 mayinclude a gold front surface to resist tarnishing or bonding with othermaterials. The mirror 26 may be rotated, such as at 10,000 revolutionsper minute, to fling off contaminants that may come to rest on themirror 26.

While the perpendicular orientation of the path 30 may allow the sensors12, 14 to receive IR radiation unblocked by other components, (such assuspension components positioned near the bearings 12, 14) an unimpededpath from the bearing 18, 20 to the mirror 26 may not be possible toachieve in some cases. For example, the bottom 32 of a locomotive outerbearing 18 may be obscured by a shroud (not shown), thereby rendering itdifficult to maintain a clear path to the bottom 32 of the outer bearing18 for receiving IR emissions. In an aspect of the invention, the outerbearing sensor 12 may be inclined from the axis 34 by an angle 36 sothat an outer bearing imaging path 31 may be inclined away fromperpendicular with respect to the axle 22 by corresponding angle 36. Forexample, the bearing imaging path 31 may be positioned at an acute anglewith respect to a face 38 of the outer wheel bearing 18. Consequently,an IR emission radiated from an un-obscured portion of the outer bearing18, such as the face 38 of the outer bearing 18, may be sensed by thesensor 12 positioned in the railbed below the train without interferencefrom components positioned near the bearing 18.

The IR emissions received from the respective portions 33 and convertedinto respective signals indicative of a strength of the IR energyreceived may be provided to a processor 40 for further processing of thereceived signals, for example, to determine indications of abnormalbearing heating. In an embodiment of the invention, the processor 40 maybe disposed remotely from the sleeper 24 and may be connected to thesensors 12, 14 via respective cables 15, 45. The processor 40 mayfurther receive wheel passage information provided by one or more wheelsensors 48 such as inductive sensors, for example, spaced longitudinallyalong rail 17. The processor 40 may be in communication with memory 42,for example, to receive analytically and/or experimentally derivedradiation pattern information from the memory 42 to perform patternrecognition analysis in accordance with and aspect of the invention.Processed information, such as information identifying a bearingcondition of a sensed wheel bearing, may be transmitted via transmitter44 to a central monitor 46 for reporting and/or notification of adegraded bearing condition requiring servicing.

The processor 40 also be in communication with a train database 43having reference information for each passing vehicle to the relativeaxle count within the train and the relative vehicle position within thetrain. For example, the reference information may be downloaded from aremote source via transmitter 44 being configured as a transceiver forreceiving and transmitting information. In another aspect, specificregistered car number data from an external system, such as an AEI tagreader system, may be input to the database 43 to tag the vehicle datawith a unique vehicle registration number.

In an aspect of the invention, the system may 10 configured foracquiring 120 samples per element 29 per bearing detected at speeds fromabout 1.86 mph to 310 miles per hour. The sampling rate may be scaled toa train velocity, so that regardless of the train speed, 120 samples perelement 29 per bearing measured may be captured and 240 samples perelement 29 per wheel measured. Bearing temperatures up to 356 degreesFahrenheit may be detected and wheel temperatures up to 1,112 degreesFahrenheit may be measured with the system 10.

The prior art techniques for sensing IR energy radiated by a train wheelbearing for detecting a wheel bearing having temperature higher than anormal operating temperature generate unreliable indicators undercertain circumstances, thereby resulting in false hot bearingindications causing unnecessary stoppage of the train to inspect thebearings, or missed hot bearing that should have been inspected.Applicant has found that processing of the IR energy measurement dataunder the techniques set forth in this invention can provide hot bearingdeterminations that are more reliable and accurate. Some problemsexperienced when attempting to perform remote IR energy measurements oftrain wheel bearings include spurious IR noise, IR sources close to thebearing, such as springs or gear boxes, different configurations oftrain wheel bearings and associated suspension and wheel components, andmovement of the train axle and associated components, into a detectionpath of an IR sensor, such as may be experienced during a wheel huntingcondition. In particular, the inner bearing 20 of a train axle 22 may bepositioned close to a gear box 39 (indicated by dotted line) that mayalso be a source of IR energy that may interfere with the IR emissionsemitted by the bearing 20. Consequently, a portion of the gear box 39 orother component radiating IR energy, such as a suspension spring (notshown), may provide one or more portions 33 of IR emissions to thesensor 14, such as when the axle moves laterally during hunting,resulting in an IR energy level that erroneously includes an IR energycomponent from both the inner bearing 20 and one or more other IRsources, such as the gear box 39. In another configuration shown in FIG.12, an inner bearing may be viewable through a relatively narrowaperture between a traction motor 106 and a carrier bracket 108 of alocomotive, making it difficult to obtain an accurate temperaturereading of the inner bearing due to interference of the traction motor106 and a carrier bracket 108.

Furthermore, geometric differences among configurations of train axle,wheel, and suspension components may result in erroneous readings. Forexample, if the measurement system 10 is configured to sense a certaindetection target area for a corresponding geometric configuration oftrain axle, wheel, and suspension component, but encounters a differentconfiguration (such as a larger gear box entering the field ofinspection or an outer bearing having a different height above the railbed than the system is configured for due, for example, to a differentwheel diameter) the measurement system 10 may sense an erroneous IRreading. It will be appreciated that aspects of the present inventionmay be used for distinguishing between one or more different componentsthat may enter a relatively hot condition indicative of a componentmalfunction. For example, it may be desirable to determine whether abearing or a gear box is a component with a hot condition. Accordingly,the techniques of the present invention are not limited to a detectionof bearing conditions because such techniques may also be applied fordetecting malfunction conditions in other mechanical components such asthe gearbox, brake disks, and/or brake pads etc.

An improved detection system capable of identifying elevated bearingtemperatures for a variety of train wheel bearing, axle, wheel, andsuspension component configurations, and conditions of these traincomponents includes performing one or more innovative processes on thereceived IR energy to determine a temperature of the bearing from whicha health condition of the bearing may be inferred. FIG. 2 illustrates anexemplary graph of temperature versus temperature sampling points overtime for received IR emissions from a train wheel bearing. FIG. 2 showswheel detection pulses 54, 56 generated, for example, by inductive wheeldetectors 48 as a train wheel 23 passes the detector 48 (as shown FIG.1.) IR emission data may be continuously collected by the processor 40monitoring the data received from the IR sensors 12, 14, relative, forexample, to a time when a wheel 23 is initially detected, as indicatedby a rising edge 62 of a first pulse 56. Data collection may becompleted at a time relative to a falling edge of wheel detection pulse,such as a falling edge 60 of the second pulse 54. Accordingly, a timingof IR emission capture may be correlated with arrival of a wheel 23 toensure that wheel bearing IR emissions corresponding to the passingwheel 23 is captured. By using two wheel sensors and measuring a timebetween wheel detection pulses, a speed of the train may be determinedand used to dynamically adjust a capture time relative to the wheeldetection pulses to ensure that wheel bearing emissions are captured asthe wheel passes the sensors 12, 14.

In an aspect of the invention, a sampling technique may be used toisolate a windowed portion 58 of the received IR temperature profile 50provided to the processor 40 by a respective sensing element 29 of thesensor 12, 14 of FIG. 1. The windowing technique may be employed toeliminate spurious IR signals outside the windowed portion 58 that mayhave been captured. A width 52 of the window 51 may be predetermined ordynamically adjusted to achieve capture of the desired windowed portion58 of the profile 50 to eliminate undesired portions 63, 64 of thewaveform outside the window portion 58. Such undesired portions mayinclude IR emission profiles indicative of other components radiating IRenergy in the vicinity of the wheel bearing, such as springs, exhaustpipes, or brake components. For example, the portion 63 exceeding analarm threshold 66, such as a temperature alarm threshold, may beignored because the portion 63 is outside the desired potion 58 and maybe indicative of IR energy radiated from another part of the traindifferent from the bearing. In an aspect of the invention, the positionof the window 51 may be adjusted to compensate for variations amongrailcars and or rail car components to ensure that at least one element29 views a temperature peak portion of a component targeted.

FIG. 15 shows rail wheel components contributing identifiable heatprofiles superimposed over an exemplary IR radiation profile 50 receivedfrom a train wheel 23 by the detection system 10. As shown, brake shoes116 being applied to the wheel rim 112 create recognizable shoetemperature peaks 118 and rim temperature peaks 120, while a coolerwheel plate 114 of the wheel 23 shows a cooler temperature valley 122 inthe profile 50. When analyzing the profile 50 to determine a hot wheelcondition, the shoe temperature peaks 118 and rim temperature peaks 120may be ignored because the wheel plate 114 temperature 122 is thetemperature of interest. For example, FIG. 16A shows an exemplary graphof a sensed temperature profile 50 indicative of a braked wheelexhibiting shoe temperature peaks 118 and rim temperature peaks 120 buthaving a wheel temperature 122 below an alarm threshold 66. FIG. 16Bshows an exemplary graph of a sensed temperature profile 50 indicativeof a braked wheel exhibiting shoe temperature peaks 118 and rimtemperature peaks 120 and also exhibiting a hot wheel condition becausethe temperature 122 of the wheel plate is above the predeterminedthreshold 66.

A position of the window 51 with respect to the IR profile 50 may beselected corresponding to detection of the wheel 23, as indicated bywheel detection pulses 54, 56, so that the window 51 is relativelycentered around the windowed portion 58. In another embodiment, thewindowed portion 58 may be selected to isolate a certain portion of thereceived IR energy of interest to be analyzed. In an aspect of theinvention, the window 51 may be sized corresponding to a largestdiameter bearing profile expected to be encountered, and a centerposition 53 of the window 51 may be selected to be at a middle of aprofile 50 indicative of a centerline of the sensed bearing. FIG. 13A isa diagram showing respective areas of coverage 35 of exemplary IRscanning beams within a detection window 51 corresponding to a sensedbearing wherein 2 of 4 scanning beams fall within the window 51. Byutilizing the coverage of the 4 scan beams and dynamically selectingbeams with best coverage based on detected heat signatures, a bearingtemperature profile may be captured by at least one of the beamsregardless of variations in truck positioning. For example, whenscanning the inner bearing 20 of FIG. 12, at least some of beamsintersect the inner bearing 20, while others of the beams notintersecting the bearing 20 may be ignored. FIG. 13B shows an exemplarygraph of a sensed temperature profile corresponding to the areas 35scanned in FIG. 13A.

In another aspect the invention depicted in FIG. 3, sharp peak profiles68 relative to an overall detected temperature profile 50, for example,within a window, may be eliminated as being potentially erroneousreadings. Such peak profiles 68 may be indicative of parasitic radiationor a reflection and may need to be filtered to allow an accuratedetermination of bearing temperature. For example, relatively sharppeaks profiles 68 may be identified by setting a threshold forvariations in values of a series of samples over a predetermined timeperiod and eliminating any data that indicates a peak profile 68 that isundesirably sharp compared to the overall detected temperature profile50.

In yet another aspect of the invention, heat sources near a well bearingbeing sensed, such as exhaust pipes, generators, and suspensioncomponents, may interfere with a temperature measurement of the bearing,possibly resulting in detecting an out of range temperature value forthe bearing when in fact the bearing temperature is within a desiredrange. An improved train wheel bearing sensing system includes an IRradiation profile recognition process to identify a component ofinterest for a temperature measurement. The IR radiation profilerecognition process correlates received IR energy to a known bearingconfiguration, and to filter out, for example, spurious or other IRenergy not generated by the bearing configuration being sensed. Forexample, in FIG. 1, memory 42 may be configured for storing a pluralityof known radiation profiles or parameters indicative of radiationprofiles for respective bearings or axle profiles that are expected tobe sensed by the system 10. The processor 40 may be configured forcomparing IR data received from the sensors 12, 14 and accessing thememory 42 to correlate received IR data to a known profile or parametersindicative of a known profile to determine if a received IR profilematches a known profile. For example, the processor 40 may use curvematching techniques to compare curved portions of a known profile toportions of received profile to determine if the received profilematches a known profile. In another aspect, digital signal processingtechniques, such as a Fast Fourier Transform, may be performed on thereceived signal to compare transformed parameters to known parameters.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary IR profile for a “W” type bearing heatsignature. Known bearing profiles stored in memory 42 may be compared tothe received profile 50 to verify that the received profile 50 is anaccepted profile for making a bearing temperature measurement. Once avalid profile type is identified, the profile 50 may be checked todetermine if it exceeds an alarm threshold 66. Portions 63, 64 of thereceived profile outside the window 51, potentially indicative of otherIR sources besides the bearing, may be disregard before making acomparison. If a received profile does not match a known profile, themeasurement may be disregarded or flagged for further investigation.

In another aspect of the invention, emission data received from each ofthe plurality of sensing elements 29 for the same bearing may becompared to each other to assess a validity of each of the IR profilesprovided by the respective sensing elements 29. For example, if one ormore IR profiles received from sensing elements 29 of a sensor includesIR energy components in addition to IR energy from a sensed bearing,(such as IR energy radiated by a gearbox adjacent to the sensed bearing)the IR profiles including non-bearing components may be filtered out byusing pattern recognition techniques.

In yet another aspect of the invention, gradients 70, 72 of a profile 50may be measured to determine if an IR radiation measurement includes anIR component from another source. For example, brake disks positionednear wheel bearings are known to cause the gradients 70, 72 a known IRprofile 50 at the edges 74, 76 of the evaluation window 51, to bedifferent than expected for the known profile. If one or more gradients70, 72 appear to be different than expected for a certain profile, thenthe received profile may be normalized to remove the effects of other IRcomponents and matched to a known profile to make a bearing temperaturedetermination.

FIGS. 7-10 illustrate exemplary conditions of a train wheel and thecorresponding IR signal profiles that may be obtained from oneembodiment of a train wheel bearing measurement system. For example,blockage of a portion of the wheel bearing and/or heat pipes andlubricant leakage may result in the IR profiles as shown in the IRoutput signal plot of FIG. 7, where each curve represents the outputfrom a respective sensing element. Sun reflections and/or overheatedouter disk brakes may result in the IR profiles as shown in the IRoutput signal plot of FIG. 8. Flying sparks from sliding wheels mayresult in the IR profiles as shown in the IR output signal plot of FIG.9. For an inner bearing, the gear box and retaining parts may interferewith the inner bearing measurement producing the IR profiles as shown inthe IR output signal plot of FIG. 10. Using the techniques describedpreviously, such as windowing, peak detection, gradient detection, andpattern recognition, an actual bearing temperature may be extracted fromthe IR signal profiles.

In another aspect of the invention depicted in FIG. 14, specificportions of a bearing may be detected to analyze a heat signature forthe bearing. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, specific bearingraceways, such as inner raceway 110 of an outer bearing 18, may betargeted so that portions 33 of IR emissions corresponding to suchcomponents are received by a sensor for analysis. Heat profileinformation for the sensed portion may be used to pinpoint that portionof a bearing for inspection or repair. In yet another aspect of theinvention, the information gathered via IR detection may be analyzed toimplement impact and load detection, using for example, patternrecognition techniques of the received profiles 50.

In another aspect of the invention, information acquired using thesystem 10 may be combined with information from other sources to verifyand enhance rail undercarriage component health condition analysis. Forexample, information collected by other sensors, such as a raildeflection sensor 41, may be associated with corresponding IR emissioninformation collected by the system 10 indicative of a hot bearingcondition may be used to verify detection of the condition. Theassociation may be performed in the processor 41 or at a remotelocation, such as in the monitor 46.

Based on the foregoing description, the methods described may beimplemented using computer programming or engineering techniquesincluding computer software, firmware, hardware or any combination orsubset thereof, wherein the technical effect is to determine a conditionof a rail vehicle undercarriage component exhibiting a scanned waveformsignature corresponding to a type of the component in response to beingscanned by a sensor. Any such resulting program, havingcomputer-readable code means, may be embodied or provided within one ormore computer-readable media, thereby making a computer program product,i.e., an article of manufacture, according to the invention. Forexample, computer readable media may contain program instructions for acomputer program code for processing received imaging data indicative ofimages acquired in a vicinity of a locomotive. The computer readablemedia may also include a computer program code for processing receivedlocation data indicative of a geographic location of the locomotive whenthe images are being acquired. In addition, the computer readable mediamay include a computer program code for accessing a railroad landmarkdatabase comprising a plurality of railroad landmarks associated withrespective geographic locations constituting landmark tags to correlatethe landmark tags with the imaging data and the location data togenerate landmark correlated image data.

The computer readable media may be, for example, a fixed (hard) drive,diskette, optical disk, magnetic tape, semiconductor memory such asread-only memory (ROM), etc., or any transmitting/receiving medium suchas the Internet or other communication network or link. The article ofmanufacture containing the computer code may be made and/or used byexecuting the code directly from one medium, by copying the code fromone medium to another medium, or by transmitting the code over anetwork.

One skilled in the art of computer science will be able to combine thesoftware created as described with appropriate general purpose orspecial purpose computer hardware, such as a microprocessor, to create acomputer system or computer sub-system embodying the method of theinvention. An apparatus for making, using or selling the invention maybe one or more processing systems including, but not limited to, acentral processing unit (CPU), memory, storage devices, communicationlinks and devices, servers, I/O devices, or any sub-components of one ormore processing systems, including software, firmware, hardware or anycombination or subset thereof, which embody the invention.

When mounted in railroad sleeper 24 of FIG. 1, the system 10 may besubject to vibration and mechanical stresses as a train travels over thesleeper 24. FIG. 5 illustrates a cross section of the sleeper 24 takenalong line 5-5 and shows an improved suspension 88, partially cut away,for the system 10 mounted within the sleeper 24. The sleeper 24 maycomprise a hollow shell portion 80 having a mounting cavity 84 and acover 82 attached, for example around a top edge 86 shell 80. Thesuspension 88 suspends a carrier 90 to which the components of thesystem 10, such as sensors 12, 14 (not shown) may be attached, andisolates the carrier 90, and any system components attached thereto,from vibration and shock.

In an aspect of the invention, the suspension 88 includes a coverattachment portion 92 attached to the cover 82, a carrier attachmentportion 94 attached to the carrier 90, and a deformable element 96disposed between the cover attachment portion 92 and the carrierattachment portion 94 for allowing relative movement between theportions 92 and 94. The deformable element 96 element may be attached tothe either or both of the portions 92 and 94.

In an embodiment depicted in FIG. 6, the deformable element 96 comprisesa tubular element, such as a spring, which is deformable, for example,in cross section from a circular cross section 98 to an oval crosssection 100 (indicated by the solid line oval) biased against a force102 applied via the cover attachment portion 92. The suspension 88 mayinclude a deformation limiting member 104, for example, partiallyenclosing the deformable element 96 to limit an amount of deformationexperienced by the deformable element 96. In an embodiment, thedeformation limiting member 104 may comprise a “C”-shaped crosssectional shaped member having a size selected to limit a deformation ofthe deformable element 96 to a desired amount. The deformable element 96may be attached to the cover attachment portion 92, the carrier portion94, or both portions 92, 94 to allow movement of the portions 92, 94relative to one another.

While the invention has been described in what is presently consideredto be a preferred embodiment, many variations and modifications willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intendedthat the invention not be limited to the specific illustrativeembodiment but be interpreted within the full spirit and scope of theappended claims.

1. Computer readable media containing program instructions fordetermining a condition of a rail vehicle undercarriage componentexhibiting a scanned waveform signature corresponding to a type of thecomponent in response to being scanned by a sensor, the computerreadable media comprising: a computer program code for acquiring scannedwaveform signature data corresponding to a rail vehicle undercarriagecomponent being scanned by a sensor; a computer program code foridentifying a type of the rail vehicle undercarriage component based onthe received scanned waveform signature data; and a computer programcode for processing the acquired scanned waveform signature data todetermine a condition of the component based on an identified type ofcomponent
 2. A suspension apparatus for a hollow railway sleeper housingrail wheel undercarriage sensing equipment, the sleeper having a shelldefining an equipment suspension cavity; a cover enclosing the equipmentsuspension cavity; and an equipment carrier disposed within the cavity,the suspension apparatus comprising: a cover attachment portion forattachment to the cover; an equipment carrier attachment portion spacedaway from the cover attachment portion for attachment to the equipmentcarrier; and a deformable element disposed between the cover attachmentportion and the equipment carrier attachment portion for allowingrelative movement between the cover and the equipment carrier so thatthe equipment carrier is isolated from vibration and shock imparted tothe sleeper.
 3. The suspension apparatus of claim 2, wherein thedeformable element comprises a radially deformable tubular elementlongitudinally disposed between the cover attachment portion and theequipment carrier attachment portion.
 4. The suspension apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the radially deformable tubular element comprises aspring.
 5. The suspension apparatus of claim 2, further comprising alimiting member limiting deformation of the deformable element.
 6. Thesuspension apparatus of claim 2, wherein the limiting member comprises atubular member having a “C” shaped cross section longitudinally disposedpartially around the deformable element.